The present disclosure contemplates a method, system and apparatus for producing and dispensing food products such as beverages made from a concentrate.
There are numerous beverage preparation systems that use a concentrate substance to prepare a beverage. Typically, the beverage concentrate is diluted with another substance, such as water, to prepare the desired resultant beverage, for example coffee, tea or juice to name a few. The concentrate may be in the form of a frozen, chilled, room temperature or heated prepackaged liquid or may also be a freshly brewed or otherwise prepared concentrate liquid. Additionally, powdered, gel, gaseous, granulated or other concentrates may be used.
The concentrate may be contained in a variety of containers. For example, one form of packaged beverage concentrates come in a “bag-in-box” arrangement where a plastic bag containing the beverage concentrate is contained within a box. Other containers such as metallic cylinders or plastic bottles may be used. The “bag-in-box” containing the desired concentrate is attached to a dispensing apparatus. Heated water in the case of coffee or tea, or chilled or room temperature water in the case of juice is then combined with a predetermined volume of concentrate to yield a resulting beverage with desired flavor characteristics. The proper volume of diluting water and concentrate are typically measured as a factor of time. For example, for a unit of beverage to be produced, a pump dispensing a concentrate must operate for a preselected period of time to deliver a predetermined volume of concentrate. At the same time, a valve must be opened for a preselected period of time to deliver a predetermined volume of diluting water. The combination of the pump and valve operating for preselected periods of time will produce a beverage with a desired flavor characteristic.
The concentrate and diluting water may be alternatively introduced at separate times into a container from which the resulting beverage is dispensed or consumed. Another possibility is to combine the concentrate and diluting water in a mixing chamber prior to dispensing into a container.
One difficulty with measuring the amount of concentrate used as a function of time is the inability of the beverage preparation system to adjust to conditions such as non-uniform concentration of the concentrate, differences in concentrate viscosity, or temperature differences which may cause a concentrate to flow from a container at varying rates. In such instances, a beverage preparation system that utilizes time to measure the proper amount of concentrate to be dispensed will produce beverages with varying amounts of concentrate and thus varying flavors that may fall outside a desired range for the resulting beverage.
It is expected that there are other beverage dispensing and diluting systems which will benefit from the present disclosure which provides improved accuracy, consistency, repeatability and uniformity in the mixing and dispensing of beverages formed from a concentrate.
The present disclosure relates to a method, system and apparatus for producing and dispensing beverages made from a concentrate. An object of the present disclosure is a conductivity detecting system, which monitors the conductivity of a diluted beverage during the mixing and dispensing process and works in combination with a controller to adjust the volume of concentrate dispensed, thereby consistently producing a more uniform beverage.
The present disclosure provides a mixing chamber and a method of introducing concentrate and diluting water into the mixing chamber which will give rise to more accurate detection of conductivity of the resulting beverage within the mixing chamber.
Briefly, a method, system and apparatus for producing and dispensing beverages made from a concentrate is disclosed. A conductivity detecting system is provided within a mixing chamber for measuring the conductivity of a beverage therein. The conductivity sensor works in combination with a controller, a concentrate pump and a controllable valve to adjust the volume of concentrate dispensed into the mixing chamber thereby keeping the resulting beverage conductivity within a specified range which defines the desired flavor for the particular beverage being produced.
The present disclosure also contemplates a system for dispensing concentrated beverages with a desired flavor. The desired flavor is expressed in terms of a conductivity measurement which is then input into a controller. The controller then regulates and adjusts the flow of concentrate into a mixing chamber based on conductivity readings provided by conductivity sensors in order to produce a beverage having the desired conductivity value.
Additional features will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of drawings, illustrative of at least one embodiment of the disclosure.